This invention relates to a device to aid in purging the water lines in dental syringes. The device continually depresses the buttons on the syringe to allow one to purge the water line of the syringe without having to manually perform the task.
It is known in the practice of dentistry and orthodontia to employ syringes to apply air and/or water to the mouth of a patient during treatment. Known dental syringes often employ air and water so that an operator of such a syringe may use compressed air or a stream of water by depressing the air and water buttons respectively, or a spray of water by depressing both buttons simultaneously.
While there are no known health risks related to the air lines of dental air/water syringes, there is potential for water line contamination when using the water lines of such syringes. Water lines of dental syringes either use self-contained (i.e., bottled) water, or non-self-contained water from sources such as municipalities or wells. Systems using bottled water are disinfected by first purging the water lines with a disinfectant solution, then by purging the disinfectant from the water lines with the non-self-contained water. Water lines connected to municipal and other non-self-contained water sources need only be purged with the water; no additional disinfectant is normally used. Regardless of which water source is used, the possibility of water line contamination exists. Such contamination is due to a condition called xe2x80x9cbiofilm.xe2x80x9d Biofilm is the accumulation of bacterial-laden slime inside water lines having a small diameter. Biofilm releases bacteria into the water inside the small diameter water lines inside dental units. There is a potential for patient exposure to bacterially-contaminated water from biofilm inside dental unit water lines.
To lessen the risk of patient exposure to water-borne bacteria from dental units contaminated with biofilm, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends purging dental unit water lines at least three (3) minutes at the beginning of each day of use, and at least twenty (20) seconds between patients. The longer a line is purged, the safer the water is from becoming infected.
While it is known to purge dental syringes by depressing the water button or both the air and water buttons by hand, holding down a syringe button to purge the water line in accordance with CDC recommendations is physically demanding, and if not performed properly, is a potential health hazard. Moreover, such a task is also time-consuming if performed properly. These and other problems are effectively addressed by the instant invention.
Although numerous patents have been issued on various features of dental syringes, there is no device that holds down the buttons on a dental syringe to properly purge water lines. Such is the purview of the instant invention.
The present invention incorporates a portion that holds down the water button, or air button, or both, on a dental air/water syringe. This so-called xe2x80x9chold-down portionxe2x80x9d is forced against the water button, air button, or both, to continually depress said button or buttons, by a portion that is called a xe2x80x9cbracing portion.xe2x80x9d In addition to causing continual depression of the buttons by the hold-down portion, the bracing portion adds stability to the apparatus while it is being used in combination with the syringe.
In light of the need for a device to purge the water lines of a dental syringe in a predictable, uniform, and continuous manner, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a syringe purge device that holds down one or buttons on a syringe, eliminating the need for constant supervision or human involvement.
It is a further object of the invention to enable a dental syringe user to purge the syringe water line in accordance with health recommendations or regulations.
It is a further object of the invention to lessen the stress of purging a dental syringe water line on the hand of the user of such a syringe.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device that will save time in purging a dental syringe water line by eliminating the need to constantly attend a dental syringe during a water line purging process.